Kaizen is often misunderstood as small ideas or isolated improvement events. In practice, Kaizen is a daily, people-centered approach to learning and improving work—supported by leadership, good systems, and psychological safety. This archive brings together blog posts, podcasts, and real-world examples of Kaizen in action, across healthcare and other industries, with a consistent focus on leadership behaviors, respect for people, and learning from problems rather than hiding them.
Curious at Amazon, but Not Idle – Bits Blog – NYTimes.com This piece about Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos made me think about visiting the “Gemba” (the Japanese term that means “the actual place” — the place where work is done).…
by Dan Markovitz Best Buy is generally not talked about as an exemplar of lean. (It’s best known for its Results Only Work Environment; read about ROWE here and here.) But yesterday’s WSJ article on Best Buy shows that the…
Dear Todd: My wife and I are both big fans of your The Olives Table cookbook, your television shows, and your Olives restaurant in Las Vegas. We most recently had a chance to enjoy the wonderful pizzas at your Figs…
TL;DR: Toyota stands apart because every employee is empowered to improve their work every day. That combination of respect for people, daily improvement, and visible learning creates better quality, safety, and performance–and it works just as well in healthcare as…
Browse Posters – George Marshall Foundation I love old WWII Posters, particularly the production posters aimed at helping the war effort. As much as Dr. Deming said to not rely on signs, posters, and slogans, I just find these signs…
I’m getting some really interesting and constructive comments in my reader survey. Keep it coming. I’ll reflect, summarize, and respond to it here on the blog or personally via email. Thanks to those who have taken the time. One comment…
Here is part 3 of the results from my online survey about Kaizen Events in healthcare. You can find Part 1 and Part 2 in previous posts. One thing to keep in mind, and I’ll comment more on this another…
Following up on Part 1 of the survey results, we’ll now explore some of the results and lessons learned from event-driven Lean activities in hospitals and health systems (done under names such as Kaizen Events, Rapid Process Improvement Workshops, and…
Last month, I conducted a non-scientific online survey about the use of event-style Kaizen methodologies in healthcare. There were 41 responses, gathered from the following sources: www.leanblog.org The mailing list for my book, Lean Hospitals The Healthcare Management Engineers (HME)…
Making lean thinking work in the NHS Here’s an article about a British hospital. I’ve seen the CEO, David Fillingham, speak about Lean and it sounds like they are really trying to embrace Lean thinking into the hospital’s culture and…
Last year, I conducted a survey in advance of my book, Lean Hospitals. I’ve been a bit lax about sharing some of the results that I didn’t include in the book. One question was about the use of “events.” As…
I walked into my hotel room after three nights of complaining about the internet and found a stuffed bear on the bed. “Beary Sorry,” it said. Hampton Inn logo on the chest. Next to it, a handwritten apology note. I’d…
